"i went here with my girlfriend for our 4th year anniversary. we sat at a table outside at the entrance to the indoor dining area which faced the entrance to the restaurant. we sat there because my girlfriend loves sitting next to me when we eat so she can hold my hand and it was a “cute” little bench/couch we were seated at. the sun was out and there were candles at all the tables, so it probably would have been more romantic if we ate when the sun was down. service right from the start of the evening was extremely friendly and helpful. the staff was very polite and very informative and educated about the menu. but at the end of the meal the service got alittle slow, but i understand because there was like a 30+ person party in the inside dining room. can u say hectic? ok onto the food. we were going to get the tasting menu which was i think 6 or 7 courses… for $80 each, not so bad, but it was going to be a 2.5 hour thing, but we needed to get outta there in like1-1.5 hours so we decided to just go a la carte apretizers: foie gras au torchon: served cool with vanilla scented blackberry compote and toasted pain de champagne 1st time having foie gras au torchon (which is wrapped up and formed into a uniform cylinder in cheese cloth and cooked in a way i completely forgot… sorry the foie gras was rich and subtle and the fruitiness of the blackberry cut through the fatty foie gras very nicely (so you dont feel so fat eating something that tastes like pure fat but extremely good nonetheless, somewhat pricey, but then again its foie gras veal sweetbreads: my first time haveing veal sweetbreads. funny because my gf thought she was gonna get bread that was sweet. thats what i thought last year, but i learned on top chef thats not what they are. haha anyways… the sweetbreads were cooked perfectly. they were tender, juicy, and rich. had a familiar taste. somewhat salty, heavy, it reminded me of pork belly. but overall it tasted extremely satisfying. i could have a whole plate of sweetbreads and love it. it was served with a black truffle vinaigrette which was subtle and added a touch of earthiness to the party and alittle tender green salad and a parmesan crisp entree pan seared vennison tenderloin served with jobron potato and juniper berry peppercorn jus. i ordered medium rare but it came to the table rare. it was my first experience tasting vennison so i was little nervous. it was a new taste to me but halfway through the meal i got used to it and it started to taste like beef. would i order it again? no wood grilled flat iron steak served with a morel cream sauce and truffle butter. i ate at bouchon for lunch at the same day and had their flat iron steak. its funny how the one here at chez spencer was obviously inferior to the flatiron steak at bouchon, but were the same price… the steak was extremely tough to cut into, and also… yup! extremely tough to chew… the morel mushrooms were really good… but they added “truffle oil” (you know its fake right? to the sauce… and the scent and taste of the “truffle” oil became overpowering and too obvious at times. desert chocolate pudding cake tasted like any other chocolate cake at any other restaurant. they try to change it up with a tea anglaise and a canale(i dont know how to spell it of whipped cream (but it looks like ice cream, why play minds tricks, put ice cream! and an overpriced 3 or 4 oz of coffee $2.50 and an over priced 6 oz of coffee and baileys $8 overall… overpriced for the quality of food. it should be at least $5-10 cheaper for restaurants in this price range id rather make the trip to chez panisse i would go back for the sweetbreads though. but thats about it."
